It’s certainly been a busy week for Lotus Motorsport, what with three driver announcements, participation at the Autosport International show in Birmingham – where the Lotus-Renault GP F1 livery was unveiled – as well as a 24 hour race.
The last forms the basis of this piece – a podium finish in the GT4 category at the Dubai 24 hour race over the weekend. The Lotus Evora GT4 Endurance, piloted by the Mansell brothers, Leo and Greg, Lotus GT factory driver Johnny Mowlem, WTCC driver Stefano D’Aste and Gianni Giudici, finished 3rd in the GT4 class and 22nd overall.
The result was a minor miracle, given that the car began at the back of the grid after logistical delays resulted in the team missing both testing and qualifying. The result could have been better still had the car not been delayed by the substitution of two driveshafts, replaced in record time by the Lotus Motorsport mechanics. This was the only technical issue during automotive marathon that was the Dubai 24 hour race.
“I am happy with the debut of the new endurance version of the Evora. Due to the high variation of temperatures between night and day, the Dubai 24 hour race is one of the most severe endurance races in the desert, and I think that the car has shown fantastic handling and reliability, important characteristics already demonstrated on the road version of the Evora,” said Lotus director of motorsport, Claudio Berro.
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Great news. Talking about this Dubai 24 endurance race, credit must go to the first ever Malaysian 24 hr endurance race team, Empire Motorsport back in 2009 in Dubai. They did well to finish with their Lotus 2-Eleven. Team ran by young mechanics from TOC college
Good effort from Proton. Bring back Lotus’s glory days of 70s and 80s.. this time with Malaysian flag in the air.
What a good result! Good luck on all other Motor sport program especially Le Mans program. Kill Porsche with lotus design LMP1 car.
Congratulations Lotus Racing & Proton that is a good start and the way to go ……. I believe in the Dreams of all Malaysian……. To see Lotus take on & trash Porsche also Ferrari. heheheehehe..macam speech MLK pulak…
Peace
Well lets not get too overly excited about it. They finished 22nd overall and 3rd in their class out of 9 runners. There were plenty of Porsches, BMWs and Ferraris that were finished ahead of them overall.
The finished the race on their debut and for that, deserve a feather on their cap. However Dubai 24 is nothing compared to Le Mans 24. If they can finish with the Evora there it’s certainly a notable milestone. However I’m not sure whether Evora is quick enough even for the slowest Le Mans ‘GT’ class, now called GTE class. They would need at least a ‘GT3’ spec machine. Ideally ‘GT2’ to be left behind at the back. Lets see what machine they come up with for GT class.
More interesting however is they reported plans for a LMP2 prototype class car. Thats more interesting to see but lets not get hopes too high. Le Mans is very tough to even finish. The Mansells didn’t even get past the first hour last year. They crashed.
Good effort!!..well done..
the rise of lotus will give a great impact to proton..
Yeah, they’ll buy back the shares they sold and go solo again.
if proton shares only majority by 45% your statement is consider ok. but proton shares in lotus group is 100% bro! statement lu boleh masuk tong sampah..
hahahaha
They will not survive even if they can. Even bigger names needs parent company to stay breathing.
Ferrari – Fiat
Lambo – VW
Porsche – VW
Bugatti – VW
Rolls Royce..
Bentley..
Jaguar..
etc.. etc..
Good for Lotus advertisement – money well spent!